This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
Certain types of drills and drivers can utilize a transmission between a motor and a drive spindle to apply a driving torque to the drive spindle. The transmission can include a plurality of gears or gear sets. Some types of drills and drivers utilize gear sets that can provide different speeds of operation. For example, the gear sets can utilize one set of gears to provide relatively low-speed operation while another set of gears can be utilized to provide relatively high-speed operation. The high and low speeds of operation can also provide differing torque values for driving a tool drive spindle.
In these types of drills and drivers, a mechanism to shift or change between the high and low speeds of operation can be used. The shifting between the high and low speeds of operation, however, can be cumbersome and can require multiple steps or operations on the part of the user to achieve the change in operation. The switching between the high and low speeds can involve moving the sets of gears within the drill or driver so that different gears are being driven to provide the different operations. A manually operated mechanical switching device can be used to move the gear sets to provide the different modes of operation. The moving of the gear sets can require the alignment of features on the drive spindle, such as splines, with the different gears so that a desired operation is achieved.
The splines and the corresponding features on the gears, however, are frequently not aligned at the time of switching between the high and low speed operation. As a result, the user cannot completely move the mechanical switching device. Rather, the user must continue to attempt to move the mechanical switching device while rotating the spindle by hand to achieve the required alignment and allow the mechanical switching device to be moved to the new position corresponding to the desired mode of operation. As a result, a cumbersome two-handed operation is required. Additionally, the requirement for a two-handed operation can increase the time required to do the shifting between the gear sets.